Preview: Malaysia versus Hong Kong

All-rounder Suresh Navaratnam will lead Malaysia in the forthcoming ACC Fast Track Cricket Tournament (FTCT) to be held at the Selangor Turf Club Ground in Jalan Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur against arch rivals Hong Kong from 9 to 11 September (3 day match). This match will be Malaysia's third encounter in the tournament after beating Singapore by 10 wickets in Singapore and losing to United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 10 wickets at home a week ago.The Malaysian team has undergone a thorough batting practice under coach John Bailey. It was their batting that failed them in the last match and the top batsmen Rakesh Madhavan, Rohan Selvaratnam, Suresh Navaratnam, S.Muthuraman, M.Krishnamurthi, Rohan Vishnu Suppiah and wicketkeeper batsman Shankar Retinam have rectified their weak points and hopefully they will be among the runs this weekend.

The top three teams of ACC FTCT will qualify the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup. The ICC Intercontinental Cup was started in 2004, which gives an opportunity to the top Associate Member countries from Europe, Asia, Africa and America continent exposure, to the longer version of the game.

The Malaysian squad:

Suresh Navaratnam (captain), Rakesh Madhavan, Rohan Vishnu Suppiah, M. Krishnamoorthi, Shankar Retinam, Rohan Mark Selvaratnam, Mohd Shukri Abdul Rahim, Mohd Anwar Arudin, M. Muniandy, S. Dinesh Muthuraman, Eszrafiq Ab. Azis, Maxwell Stephen, Manrick Singh, Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam, Clarence Samuel (manager), Michael John Bailey (coach), S. Kathiravel (3rd umpire), S.Subramaniam (physio).

The Hong Kong squad:

Timothy Smart (captain), Muhammad Afzaal Haider, Mark Eames, Cheruparambil Manoj, Muhammad Ilyas Gul, Nasir Hameed, Tabarak Dar, Hussain Butt, Irfan Ahmad, Jawaid Iqbal, Adam Gunthorpe, Muhammad Khalid Khan, Roy Lamsam, Courtney Kruger, Lal Jayasinghe (manager), Robin Singh (coach), Philippa Stewart (physio).